A surge in house building led to the construction sector expanding for the twelfth consecutive month in April, according to a report.

The Markit/CIPS UK construction PMI showed that overall expansion slowed to a six-month low last month - despite more evidence that housebuilders are enjoying their busiest period since before the recession.

The sector has benefited from growing demand for residential housing and the rate of expansion in April remained one of the fastest seen over the past ten years.

Growth: Residential construction recorded its fastest growth seen over the past ten years

Overall, the UK economy grew by a slower-than-expected 0.8 per cent in the first quarter.

Gross domestic product had been expected to grow by 0.9 per cent but was dragged down by contractions in mining and other production activity, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Tim Moore, senior economist at survey compiler Markit said: ‘Better economic conditions, a surge in house building, improved access to finance and greater investment spending are all important tailwinds for UK construction growth this year.’

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‘While there looks to have been a
further steep upturn in new house building starts in April, the trend
remains well short of estimated increases in underlying demand each
year,’ added Moore.

In the construction sector, the current 15-month period of continuous house building growth is the longest since 2006/07.

Markit/CIPS UK construction PMI: It showed that overall expansion slowed to a six-month low last month

UK Construction PMI: According to Markit, PMI eased to 60.8 in April from 62.5 in March

According to Markit, PMI eased to 60.8 in April from 62.5 in March and the index has now been above the 50 threshold denoting growth for a full year.

Elsewhere, civil engineering activity slowed sharply, with some firms reporting an easing in the amount of business coming from flood relief work earlier in the year.

During the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, the construction industry - which accounts for 6 per cent of the economy - was hit hard.

It has been staging a recovery since last year thanks to record-low interest rates, government programmes to encourage people to buy new homes and falling unemployment, although new house building has struggled to keep pace with demand.

Pledge: Labour leader Ed Miliband announced plans to build a further 200,000 homes a year if his party wins the next election

Yesterday, Labour leader Ed Miliband seized on the debate over the lack of housing and announced plans to build a further 200,000 homes a year if his party wins the next election.

He made it clear that new towns and garden cities were key to his plans.

To do this, he said he will ‘enable local authorities to expand when they want to’ and also ‘stop firms hoarding land rather than building on it.’

According to Nationwide, a lack of supply of new houses has been pushing up house prices.

The mortgage lender said house prices jumped by 10.9 per cent year on year in April, marking the first time since April 2010 that annual growth has reached double figures.

Property prices leaped by 1.2 per cent in one month alone, reaching an average across the UK of £183,577, according to Nationwide.

The faster-than-expected price increases marked the biggest annual rise since June 2007, before the start of the financial crisis.

Meanwhile, critics of the Government's flagship Help to Buy scheme suggest that this has added to the pressure on house prices by fuelling buyer demand.

The Bank of England's outgoing chief economist Spencer Dale said on Wednesday that policymakers ‘should be nervous’ about the housing market, although he said he did not see signs of a price bubble.

Markit said construction companies continued to take on staff at a strong pace, albeit easing back slightly from March.

A similar survey on Thursday showed surging output and an influx of orders helped British manufacturing activity grow last month at a much faster rate than expected, which bodes well for Britain's economic recovery.

The purchasing managers' index survey gave a better-than-expected reading of 57.3, up from 55.8 in March, with the 50 mark separating growth from contraction.

However, the strength in manufacturing bolstered hopes for a re-balancing in the recovery away from its reliance on consumer spending and the services sector.

Jonathan Loynes of Capital Economics said the Markit data was ‘encouraging evidence of a favourable rebalancing of the UK's economic recovery’.